The Autism Label

When pondering the question, “Why do people call Autism a label?”, eight year old Cadence, who has Autism and other challenges, delightfully explained the difference between a tin labelled ‘tomatoes’, and one of her key ‘ingredients’, Autism, before proudly declaring “I have more ingredients than tomatoes”.

Text and image:
“Why do people call Autism a label?
I don’t think that’s right. My label is Cadence. One of my ingredients is Autism”.
Cadence then drew a picture of a tin she labelled ‘Tomatoes’ and listed it’s ingredients: Tomatoes 60%, Basil 0.1%, Oregano 0.1%, Acid regulator 3.30%.
She then drew a self-portrait, labelling herself as ‘Cadence’ and listing her ingredients: Autism, Organs, Bones, Blood, Clever cells, Caring cells.
Comparing the ingredients of each, “I have more ingredients than tomatoes